Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean leaders agreed in talks Tuesday to further push forward bilateral relations and strengthen economic exchange.

In the meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Wen offered thanks to the two countries' joint efforts, adding that political trust has been deepened, exchange and cooperation have been expanded and coordination in dealing with regional and global affairs is now closer.

The ever-closer ties bring tremendous benefits to the peoples of both countries and make a significant contribution to peace and development in the Northeast Asian region, Wen said.

To enhance the ties, Wen delivered a five-point proposal: maintaining high-level exchange, deepening economic and trade cooperation, promoting exchanges of personnel and cultural activities, strengthening coordination and cooperation in regional and world affairs, and properly handling each other's concerns.

Roh said that South Korea and China have the same goal of developing their bilateral relations, and he believes that Premier Wen's visit would push bilateral ties to a higher level.

Roh emphasized that South Korea welcomes, and is not worried about, China's economic development. The improvement in the Chinese people's living standards and the expansion of the Chinese market offer South Korea many opportunities, he said, and said he believes that the two countries could develop together and have their common interests furthered through high-level cooperation and fair competition.

In the earlier meeting with his South Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo, the Chinese premier highlighted the implementation of a development layout of long-and-medium-term economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, saying that the scale of cooperation should be expanded and the level of cooperation should be upgraded.

Han said that Sino-South Korean ties have enjoyed rapid development and have transformed into an all-round partnership of cooperation in the past 15 years, thereby setting an example for state-to-state cooperation.

South Korea hopes to continue to push forward the joint study of building a free trade zone with China, as well as promoting bilateral cooperation in trade, telecommunications, nuclear energy and railways, to enhance communication and coordination in regional and world affairs, the South Korean prime minister said.

During the meetings, the leaders also discussed the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Regarding that, Wen said continued progress will be achieved in promoting the process of the six-party talks so long as all relevant parties bear in mind the overall interest of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the region as a whole and making unremitting efforts to that end, adding that China is sticking to its position on a peaceful settlement through dialogue.

Wen arrived here on Tuesday morning for his first-ever visit as premier to South Korea. He will leave for Japan on Wednesday and is scheduled to conclude his two-nation tour on Friday.

Wen also addressed the opening ceremony of the China-South Korea Exchange Year, describing the personnel and cultural exchange as serving as the foundation for bilateral friendship.

During the meeting with Park Sam-koo, the chairman of Republic of Korea (ROK)-China Friendship Association, Wen said that active participation and support of non-governmental organizations is required to further boost bilateral relations.

Source: Xinhua